Scripture Reflections for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year A, Lectionary 115
God accompanies us throughout our journey. Jesus seperates his disciples from 'the crowd' and sends us on mission. But even from afar God is with us as Jesus prays for us as we sail past the rough seas. And even though during the dark 'fourth watch of the night' we may experience fear and distance from God, as long as we cry out to God, God will come to us. Even if we may not recognize Jesus at first we will come to realize that he is truly God and ready to save us.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Aboriginal • Accompany • Adapt • Awe • Boat • Calm • Charity • Church • Community • Covenant • Darkness • Divine • Elijah • Encounter • Faith • Fear • Focus • Follow • Hope • Kingdom • Listen • Miracle • Mystery • Peace • Peter • Prayer • Providence • Refugees • Relationship • Revelation • Rite • Silence • Stable • Storm • Trust • Water •
“All due respect to Elijah but maybe he's not the one to pay attention to in this particular case. Instead let's turn our attention to God”
“this is just a great example of the fact that although Paul is the apostle of the gentiles he in no way obscures or diminishes the Jewish identity of Jesus himself as well as the many gifts and privileges of the people of Israel as the chosen people of God”
“one of the things you'll see over and over again in accounts of theophanies in the Bible is that people are always afraid. Like when they see God they're afraid and God's response to their fear is often to quell it, right. To say 'be calm, don't be afraid' and then to speak to them, to give them some message.”
“So when we're in the midst of a storm we can pray to the Lord to calm the storm and he might answer but he may just calm your spirit instead and let the storm rage”
“sometimes he calms the waves, other times he leaves the waves and calms his child and then he says 'be still and know that I am God'”
“we need to stop shouting and acting out of fear and saying 'it is you' not 'if it is' but that 'it is you, do what you can do Lord. You do you so that we can be who and what we are supposed to be, where we're supposed to be.' Understanding that God makes all the difference in this world.”
“And yes it's true that Peter sunk in the water but the point of the story is that Christ will scoop you up when that moment comes, that if you have the courage and the faith to step out into the storm...then Christ will reward you by protecting you at all times”
“if half of your prayer or most of your prayer is just telling God what you want or what you need or asking for God to get you out of trouble then you've only half prayed. The other half of the time you have to listen to God. You have to hush and listen for God.”
“the main reason why we should not be afraid is that not only does God watch us, not only does he watch over us, but he is with us”
“fear paralyzes us. We don't have control. We feel helpless. On the other hand hope activates us and peace liberates us.”
“Whatever our great fear is, God is greater. Whatever we can imagine and try to limit God to be, God is greater. God exists beyond that and that can be terrifying to know how limited our minds and thoughts can be and how grand God is.”
“But in the context of them falling on their face and worshiping him they clearly mean something more than just 'you're the Messiah.' They also seem to be worshiping him as if he's a divine king, as if he's the divine Messiah, as if he is the divine Son of God.”
“Matthew’s telling of this story invites the question: Where do I place my faith? In the power of the storm or in the power of God’s saving presence?”
“He walks on the water not for himself but for us”
“Elijah whispers to us across the centuries: what keeps us strong in the shadow of the cross is God's ever-present unsurpassed love, making us participants in the divine nature and friends of God and prophets”
“There is a difference between having an insight and having a conversion. Insights suggest that this is a good thing to do. 'I should do this.' But conversion, people of God, helps you and I to make the journey.”
“if you and I have earplugs in you're not going to be able to hear the whispering sound of God. Amen. If we stay plugged in all the time to outside voices and outside noise you're not going to hear the voice of God. Sometimes we've just got to hush.”
“Indeed if we don't live from within our own centers of connection and communion with God we'll go spinning along with the circumstances of our lives and we start to sink. How can we hear the voice of God and be centered in love and renewed in spirit?”
"we're not immune to tragic events or to illness or to anything. We just have a different, I guess, we just have a different way of approaching it and that's through the lens of faith."
In the latest episode of the 1 Christian 1 Topic Podcast "Faith Amidst Tragedy," we have a conversation with Liz on faith, suffering, and prayer. More